When my interest in Osho’s philosophies was re-kindled I went in search of a book that had had quite a profound effect on me thirty years ago. As I have said many times I am not a Christian but if I were ever to convert to Christianity (God forbid), it would be on the strength of this book and Osho’s insights into the teachings of Jesus. I have always held an enormous respect for Jesus as a charismatic and enlightened master but I have never been able to cope with the institution of Christianity that emerged from his teachings. In his book The Mustard Seed, Osho unravels the profound yet often obscure comments spoken by Jesus and recorded by Thomas.It is acknowledged by anyone who has delved even a little into the work of the gnostic Christians that Jesus was an Essene, but what is intriguing about this account is that Osho convincingly argues that not only was Jesus a student of ancient Egyptian traditions, he was well versed in Vedantic scripture. In fact, he goes even further to say that many of Jesus’ sayings are, in fact, pure Vedanta - and then proceeds to tell us why.
‘Jesus was trained in one of the oldest secret schools….called Essenes. The teaching of the Essenes is pure Vedanta. That’s why Christians don’t have a record (of) what happened to Jesus before his thirtieth year…..Few things they know, but a phenomenon like Jesus is not an accident….’ (Rajneesh [Osho], 1975: 351) Osho was a Professor of Philosophy but unfortunately doesn’t often reference his sources because most of what is in print was recorded in the darshan (discourse) he gave daily.
He goes on to say that Jesus worked as an ‘unknown disciple’ within these esoteric traditions and that although this was/is known to (mainstream) Christianity, they have deliberately refrained from mentioning it because they don’t like the idea that the son of God was ‘prepared, taught, trained’ like anyone else. To me this makes perfect sense, where was he for those 30 years? Osho says that: ‘Jesus was as much a seeker as you’. (Rajneesh [Osho], 1975: 351) The idea that Jesus was ‘imperfect’, that he studied, went in search of truth and found it makes the whole Jesus phenomenon far more accessible. It means that reaching the 'kingdom of heaven' might be possible, which is the message that both Jesus and Osho were trying to deliver - but of course, in both cases, this was blasphemy to the established institutions.
image: Jesus in Bondi, Steve Kilbey. http://www.stevekilbeyart.com/
Shree Rajneesh, The Mustard Seed (Discourses on the Sayings of Jesus from the Gospel According to Thomas), 1975, Oregon: Rajneesh Foundation
He goes on to say that Jesus worked as an ‘unknown disciple’ within these esoteric traditions and that although this was/is known to (mainstream) Christianity, they have deliberately refrained from mentioning it because they don’t like the idea that the son of God was ‘prepared, taught, trained’ like anyone else. To me this makes perfect sense, where was he for those 30 years? Osho says that: ‘Jesus was as much a seeker as you’. (Rajneesh [Osho], 1975: 351) The idea that Jesus was ‘imperfect’, that he studied, went in search of truth and found it makes the whole Jesus phenomenon far more accessible. It means that reaching the 'kingdom of heaven' might be possible, which is the message that both Jesus and Osho were trying to deliver - but of course, in both cases, this was blasphemy to the established institutions.
image: Jesus in Bondi, Steve Kilbey. http://www.stevekilbeyart.com/
Shree Rajneesh, The Mustard Seed (Discourses on the Sayings of Jesus from the Gospel According to Thomas), 1975, Oregon: Rajneesh Foundation
